Africa Conflicts

11 Pages 2834 Words

cognizing the fact that the recent gains made by African countries are grounded in economic and political reforms, the Council recognizes their fragility, particularly against the backdrop of still vastly underdeveloped human and institutional capacities, the recent volatility in the global financial system and its effect on the price of commodities exported by the region. Against this backdrop, the Council recognizes and appreciates the urgent need to sustain and accelerate the conditions for these recent gains towards eliminating poverty, raising of the standard of living of the population, preventing and reducing conflicts and integrating the economies of the region more closely into the global economy.
5. In order to consolidate and accelerate the gains made, the Council, while noting with concern the declining trend in official development assistance (ODA) to African countries and its impact on the countries of the region, also urges the international community to improve access to markets and to continue to assist African countries in making better use of existing market opportunities already available while facilitating foreign direct investment, ensuring adequate flows of ODA in tandem with agreed targets and providing deeper relief from external debt. In this context, the Council welcomes the recent decision of the seven major industrialized countries (Group of Seven) to improve the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and grant additional debt relief. The Council calls for a more concerted effort to achieve rapid progress towards faster and deeper debt relief under the HIPC Initiative and through other means to ensure a permanent exit from the unsustainable debt burden of the poorest countries. In this regard, the Council urges that any International Monetary Fund (IMF) gold reserve sales should be done in a limited and cautiously phased manner to minimize any adverse effect on African and other developing goldn...